Here’s a nice bit of history:

* Protégées of Ronan Keating, they were originally called Westside.

* Three of the members met in a local production of the musical Grease.

* Alarm bells rang when Kian vanished moments before the band were to appear at the World Music Awards. He had turned a wrong corner and become lost backstage.

* They were the first act to top the Internet Download chart.

* Brian injured himself when he attempted to throw his television from his hotel bedroom window, but managed to drop it on his head!

* Nicky is married to Georgina, one of the daughters of Irish PM Bertie Ahern.

* A former sprout-picker was jailed after swindling his fiancée out of thousands of pounds, claiming he’d written hit songs for the band.

A is for Afro
"I really can't go without my hair products," groans Shane. "Now my hair's short, it's like a fuzzball without products. I've got an afro thing going on!"

B is for Broken Hooter
"I broke my nose playing footie when I was 12," says Bryan. "I did a dirty tackle and turned round and this guy twice my size came over and punched me. I ran home crying!"

C is for Croissants
Nicky's most detested food. "I can't understand why people eat them, they're horrible," he rants.

D is for Dancing
"I wouldn't say we're brilliant dancers but we can dance," confides Shane. "A lot of what we've done so far are quite slow so all we have to do is walk around, ha ha! But we've recorded our first uptempo track and we've started working on the routine already."

E is for Eating Out
Japanese is Nicky's favourite type of cuisine.

F is for Fry Ups
"Nothing sets you up for the day like a fry!" reckons Kian. "Rashers, sausages, beans, tomatoes, eggs, toast, tea, the whole shebang! Yum!"

G is for Grease
The musical Kian, Mark and Shane were appearing in when they met.

H is for Hobbies
"You can't beat chilling-out and watching the footie with your mates. Up the Liverpool!" reckons Mark.

I is for Ice Cream
"I love Haagen Daz's Cookies and Cream, I've introduced all the lads to it," says Nicky.

J is for Jolly Good Mates
"Nicko's my best mate in the band," says Bryan. "That's because Dubs stick together. My best friend at home is Eddie. I've know him since I was three. We're like brothers."

K is for Kitchen
Shane spent many an hour sweating over a hot chip pan earning extra pocket money in his parents' restaurant.

L is for Ledge
Short for legend, and the lads' description of someone who's a top person.

M is for Mistaken Identity
"I was talking to this record company bloke and I thought his name was Tom. The whole night I was 'Blah, blah Tom...' As he was leaving he said, 'By the way my name's Frank," cringes Mark.

N is for Naughty but Nice
Shane's a bit of a chocaholic. Snickers and Twix are particular favourites.

O is for "Oh my God"
"I've got about 110 phobias," quivers Nicky. "I hate lifts. Glass ones aren't so bad but I'd crack up if I got stuck up in one you couldn't see out of!"

P is for Posh Smellies
Kian loves Jean Paul Gaultier aftershave whereas Nicky's favourite is Dolce & Gabbana.

Q is for Quenching Your Thirst
If Nicky's feeling a tad parched he reaches for the nearest can of ginger ale.

R is for Ring Ring
Like all pop stars WestLife have to be prised away from their mobile phones. Kian, Nicky and Mark all claim to be lost without theirs.

S is for Spots
"I had this horrible red spot on my nose during the entire Boyzone tour," confides Shane. "People were talking to my spot, it was so embarassing!"

T is for Trouble-Free Complexion
Mark washes his face whenever he washes his hands. "It doesn't do him any harm," pipes Shane. "I've known him since he was ten and he's never had a single spot!"

U is for Unusual Phobias
Mark's petrified of flapping wings.

V is for Vanity
According to Bryan, Kian is without doubt the vainest WestLifer.

W is for Waltons Mountain
Shane's one of seven kids!

X is for Xtra Chips
WestLife love chips!

Y is for Yoga
and all that new age rubbish. Shane thinks it's all nonsense!

Z is for Catching ZZZZ's
Bryan used to snooze under a Superman duvet which his mum's still got at home!

Background:
"Shane, Mark and I were at school togther and met Nicky & Brian when they were auditioning for another band" explains Kian.

Music:
"We're a mixture of Boyzone, Backstreetboys and Take That with an R&B feel" says Nicky.

What'll get them noticed:
Having Ronan as a manager is not going to do them any harm but Nicky is not counting his chicken's. "We're going to work as hard as we can to be succsesful, but there's always the worry that we might flop".

Chances of making the Top 10:
"It would be un believable! I'd give Ronan & Louis a big kiss" enthususes Nicky.

Nicky, you were signed to Leeds, do you miss the beautiful game?
Nicky: a bit, I didn't at first because this was so new and exciting a new adventure I wouldn't give this up for anything though, I've no regrets about the choice I've made.

What was the best moment of the tour?
Nicky: Playing Wembley! Wembley is every footballers dream, but Wembley of every pop star's dream. When I went there and said "good evening Wembley" to the crowd it was the best feeling of my life.

So what's Ronan like as a boss?
Kian: during the tour he used to pop in every day before we went on to say good luck and afterwards came to tell us where we went wrong and what we did right.

What's The best advice he's given?
Kian: To be nice to everybody on the way up because you'll need them on the way down.

Ronan Keating's band Westside have been officially launched to the press - despite the fact that they may have to change their name in the next few weeks. Their record company hosted a showcase for the boy band - but at the same time they're taking advice on whether to re-name the group.

Westside were brought together by Ronan and Boyzone's manager, Louis Walsh. They chose the name because they're all from the West Side of Ireland. The only trouble is, the National Band Register has records of EIGHT other bands who have Westside in the title, including a French band called Westside Boyz. The ‘phone book lists 104 UK companies with Westside in their name and the record company are worried about merchandising rights to spin-offs like T-shirts. Ironically, Boyzone themselves ran into the same trouble - they had to buy the name from a 70s band of the same name.

A complete name change would be a costly exercise for the record company - the band have already won the Smash Hits Newcomers Award as Westside. But the boys themselves told the Net they won't let a little thing like a name change get them down:

"The name isn’t gonna change that much, anyway. It’s just a bit of the name - it’s gonna be West something, ‘coz we’re still keeping the fact that we’re from the West of Ireland and the West of Europe". The band assure us it won’t be Westzone and say there is a positive side to changing their name:

"I suppose that it can be seen in a good point of view, that we are gonna get more press now".

Westlife’s plans for 1999....
Mark: We're aiming to release a few singles and hoping they're gonna do really well in the charts
Shane: We want to establish a foundation, and hopefully travel to the US and Australia
Nicky: We've already got an album written, so that could be released too. Do we play instruments? nah we just sing....

The Pop Star Hair do
Bryan: We've all had our haircut since we've been signed
Mark: And we've got loads of stylists to sort out our clothes- He's Kenny Ho, The Spice girls stylist I never thought I'd be wearing what I'm wearing today
Kian: The only thing I hate is when we have to wear make up for shoots. It feels weird - I can't stand it!

Their Music....
Mark: It's pop. Some of it's slushy, but we've also got some uptempo songs up our sleeves!
Shane: It's more mature than pop. We've got our own distinctive sound, but I wouldn't say it's typically Irish.

Being Irish....
Nicky: I supposed we've got some of that cheeky Irish sparkle!
Kian: I suppose we really don't think about it- it's just what we are. I can't see us doing any traditional Irish music although I really liked the bit in C'est La Vie-you know, that bit with the Irish fiddle!
Mark: Some fans asked us the other day to say something so they could hear out accents. I mean how could they like our accents? We sound like farmers (they all crease up)

Boyzone Comparisons.........
Bryan: If we're compared to Boyzone, that's an honour. It's like people comparing BSB and 'N sync.
Kian: We do get compared to BZ- obviously 'cos were managed by Ronan and Louis Walsh, and we're releasing a ballad as our first single whereas most groups release up-tempo songs. Plus we don't dance...
Shane: Boyzone were out heroes when we grew up. They opened the way for us.
Nicky: maybe out vocals sound a bit like them....although I think Ronan has a unique voice

Their friends and family....
Shane: It was my mum who got the deal for us, really. She kept ringing Louis without telling us, eventually she got hold of him. When she told us she'd arranged a meeting with him, we didn't believe her!
Kian: Our families are right behind us and so are our friends!
Bryan: I think they are more exited than we are!

Their Mission....
Nicky: We don't want to change pop, we want to add to it. Five and B*Witched have already changed it a lot in a year
Mark: It'd be great to be able to look back and think we'd made our mark on the history of pop.